Jamaretti Cookies

I love anything with almond paste in it, especially amaretti cookies, and any baked good made with jam.  This bar cookie combines the flavor of an amaretti with a jam filling, thus the name, jamaretti! I've had the recipe from Martha Stewart ear-marked to try for a while now.  I ran across a version that had orange zest in the cookie dough and orange juice and zest in the glaze and knew I would be baking them soon!  It's crazy tax season time in my office and I put a platter of these by the coffee pot, they didn't last long! They make a nice little treat with your morning coffee!

I made the dough the night before and got up a little early to roll out the dough and bake them. They baked while I showered, it was a great use of time! Any kind of jam can be used, I used apricot and boysenberry for this batch.  Raspberry would be good, too. They are a little chewy, not too sweet, and very tasty!

Jamaretti Cookies

2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
4 oz. almond paste, cubed
1 teaspoon fresh orange zest
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature, cubed
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
2/3 cup jam (apricot, boysenberry/blackberry, raspberry)

Glaze
1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh orange zest
2 teaspoons fresh orange juice
2 teaspoons milk

Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Combine almond paste, orange zest, and sugar in a food processor and pulse until blended. Add butter, eggs, and almond extract, and blend until smooth. Add flour mixture and pulse just until a soft dough forms. Divide dough in half, scrape out onto two pieces of plastic wrap (dough will be sticky), shape into a disk, and wrap well.  Chill dough until firm, 45 minutes to 1 hour (dough can be made ahead).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. On a lightly floured board, shape dough into two 14 x 3-inch logs; transfer to baking sheet. Bake logs for 15 minutes, until just set. Remove from oven and make an indentation down the center of each log with the back of a tablespoon.  Place jam in a small bowl and warm briefly in the microwave (about 10 seconds). Stir jam to loosen, then fill the center of each log with jam. Return logs to oven and continue baking 12 to 14 minutes, until golden. Remove from oven and place baking sheet on a wire rack to cool completely.

For the glaze, whisk together powdered sugar, salt, orange zest, orange juice, and milk in a small bowl.  Drizzle glaze over logs, and let set before using a serrated knife to cut logs on the diagonal (like biscotti). Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

Adapted from Martha Stewart and Tutti-Dolci.